On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12<\/sup> And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance 13<\/sup> and lifted up their voices, saying, „Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.“ 14<\/sup> When he saw them he said to them, „Go and show yourselves to the priests.“ And as they went they were cleansed. 15<\/sup> Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; 16<\/sup> and he fell on his face at Jesus‘ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. 17<\/sup>Then Jesus answered, „Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?<\/p>\n 18<\/sup> Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?“ 19<\/sup> And he said to him, „Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.“ (Luke 17:11-19 ESV)<\/p>\n Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n A young seminary intern walked into the office of the congregation he was serving the Monday before Thanksgiving.\u00a0 It had been a busy few weeks at the church and he was looking forward to the office being closed towards the end of the week.\u00a0 As he sat down to get the morning going the senior pastor stuck his head in.\u00a0 \u201cBy the way\u201d, he said \u201cYou know that interdenominational community thanksgiving service we have tomorrow night?\u00a0 \u201cYes\u201d said the intern.\u00a0 \u201cYou have to preach it\u201d said the Senior Pastor.\u00a0 So the intern got to work.\u00a0 Later that afternoon he finally had a sermon ready.\u00a0 Tuesday night rolled around and the intern entered the pulpit.\u00a0 He decided to do something he normally didn\u2019t do.\u00a0 He asked a non-rhetorical question of those that had gathered.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are you thankful for?\u201d He asked.\u00a0 Followed by \u201cPlease speak up so everyone can hear.\u201d\u00a0 The typical answers were given.\u00a0 Family, friends, good health, food, shelter, clothing.\u00a0 The list went on.\u00a0 It started to get quiet when the Senior Pastor, now sitting in a pew a few rows back, called out \u201cI\u2019m thankful you are up there instead of me!\u201d\u00a0 The whole place started laughing.\u00a0 The intern just kind of hung his head a minute, feeling a little defeated and knowing that he had not expected such an answer.\u00a0 The laughter subsided, and then intern leaned over the pulpit closer to the microphone and said in a slightly softer voice \u201cme too.\u201d<\/p>\n Today as the church we celebrate Thanksgiving.\u00a0 We might find ourselves asking the question \u201cWhat are we thankful for?\u201d\u00a0 Perhaps many of the answers will be like those given at that community service.\u00a0 Food, family, health, shelter.\u00a0 But how many of us would say that we were thankful for faith?\u00a0 Think about it\u2026we talk about our faith.\u00a0 We say that we live out our faith.\u00a0 But are we thankful for our faith?\u00a0 Looking at our text today Jesus tells this Samaritan that his faith has made him well.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t Jesus saying \u201cbe healed\u201d.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t the Samaritan washing in the pool of Siloam or Jesus casting out a demon.\u00a0 All Jesus actually does here according to the text is tell the Lepers to go and show themselves to the priests.\u00a0 Nothing else is said.\u00a0 As the 10 go on their way, Luke tells us that one of them saw that he was healed and turned back to Jesus.\u00a0 Luke then tells us this 1 is a Samaritan.\u00a0 What\u2019s interesting here is that even though the Samaritan starts on the path to see the priest, he actually could not have followed through with Jesus\u2019 instruction.\u00a0 Samaritans were a race of people who were only half Jewish and they didn\u2019t consider Jerusalem to be the center of worship nor did they consider the High Priests to be legitimate.\u00a0 The feud between Samaritans and Jews goes all the way back to the Babylonian Exile in 587 BC.\u00a0 The hatred between the groups is so strong I\u2019m surprised this Samaritan was even able to live among Jewish lepers. \u00a0This Samaritan, with no priest to go see, is the only one who turns back, praises God and prostrates himself before Jesus and gives him his thanks.\u00a0 Richard A. Jenson, in a commentary on this text writes \u201cas this story defines it, faith is the recognition of the One who has made us well.\u00a0 Faith returns to Jesus and accepts, praises, and gives thanks for what the Savior has done.\u201d[1]<\/a>\u00a0 The Samaritan, who did not share the full Jewish faith and customs, is the one who is made well by his faith.\u00a0 He is the only one that seems thankful.\u00a0 Therein lies a common misconception about this text.\u00a0 It is easy to assume the other nine lepers were not thankful because they, unlike the Samaritan, didn\u2019t return to the Jesus.\u00a0 We don\u2019t know that they weren\u2019t thankful and there is nothing in the text to suggest that.\u00a0 Instead, it appears they apparently go and do exactly what Jesus tells them to do.\u00a0 As good Jews, they go to the priests and show that they are clean.\u00a0 They did their religious duty and surely they were thankful.\u00a0 Afterall, by being clean they are no longer shunned from the community.\u00a0 For all we know they are back to being active members of society.\u00a0 A word of caution though\u2026.as we read and reflect on this text, we must take care to not confuse their religious duty with their faith.\u00a0 Surely they had faith that Jesus was someone special.\u00a0 Otherwise they too would not have called out to him for help.\u00a0 But there\u2019s just something different about these 9.\u00a0 Or perhaps there is just something different about that Samaritan.\u00a0 That difference is being hungry for faith vs content in faith.\u00a0 The Samaritan was hungry, he was searching, he wanted more, a deeper relationship with the God that he worshiped.\u00a0 That is the faith that we are thankful for.<\/p>\n If we truly want to live into and live out our faith, we have to recognize the hunger for it that we have.\u00a0 In his explanation to the 3rd<\/sup> article of the creed Luther explains that we cannot even come to believe in God, except that the Spirit calls us through the Gospel and enlightens us with his gifts, making us holy and keeping us in the true faith.\u00a0 If this truly is the work of the Spirit, then we cannot ever be content in our faith.\u00a0 We are always seeking and searching for that deeper relationship of the one who made us and calls us his own.\u00a0 This is the gift of the Spirit we receive at baptism; it is the gift we receive every time we come to the Lord\u2019s Table.\u00a0 This is the gift that comes from the one we believe sits at the right hand of the Father and reigns as King of the universe forever.\u00a0 It is the gift of faith.<\/p>\n This coming week I imagine the majority of you will gather with family or friends.\u00a0 You will probably eat too much, laugh a lot, tell good stories, and watch the most important football game of the year.\u00a0 If you get the moment, I invite you to contemplate on the question \u201cWhat am I thankful for?\u201d \u00a0\u00a0As faithful people, I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how God helps you answer that question.\u00a0 In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n Rev. Dr. Judson F Merrell, STS<\/p>\n
\n